Kinross-shire

Kinross-shire
Kinross-shire
Historic county
Country	Scotland
County town	Kinross
Area
• Total	73 sq mi (189 km2)
	Ranked 33rd of 34
Chapman code	KRS

Last updated March 04, 2024

The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1975.^[1] Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Perthshire to the north and Fife to the east, south and west.

Scotland's second smallest county, Kinross-shire is dominated by Loch Leven, a large inland loch, with two islands and an internationally important nature reserve. One of the islands contains a castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was once held prisoner. Much of the land in Kinross-shire is fertile agricultural land and most of the inhabitants were originally employed in farming. The gently-rolling farmland surrounding Loch Leven gives way to steep, more rugged terrain at the outskirts of the county.

History

The shire or sheriffdom of Kinross was formed in the thirteenth century when the two parishes of Kinross and Orwell were removed from the Fothriff area of Fife. Cleish, Portmoak and Tullibole were added by act of parliament in 1685.^[2]^[3] As local government in Scotland evolved, Kinross-shire gained a county council in 1890, which was later amalgamated with Perthshire County Council under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929. Kinross County Council was based at County Buildings, Kinross.^[4]^[5]

The county suffered a decline in population in the 19th and 20th centuries, as its inhabitants migrated to the cities to find work in manufacturing, etc. The population in 1891 was 6,673; in 1971 it was 6,423. The decline was hastened by the closure of the railways in the county soon after the Second World War. However, in recent years, construction of the M90 motorway north of the Forth Road Bridge has resulted in the area becoming more prominent. Tourism has increased, with visitors attracted by the unspoiled country villages and gently rolling hills reaching the shores of Loch Leven. The villages of Kinnesswood and Scotlandwell are attractive, and there are ancient standing stones at Orwell. The T in the Park music festival was held in Balado from 1993 to 2014.

The economic outlook of Kinross-shire has improved and was recorded in 2009 as having an estimated population of 12,997. In addition, it outperformed both the Perth and Kinross area and Scotland averages in economic performance.^[6] The area is promoted by the Kinross-shire Partnership, a body bringing together local government, tourist organisations and local organisations.^[1]^[7]

Geography

Kinross-shire is landlocked and is generally flat, except in the north-west where the Ochil Hills are located, and along the southern boundary where the Cleish Hills can be found. The Ochils contain Innerdouny Hill, Kinross-shire's highest point at 497 m (1,631 ft). The most notable geographic feature of the county is Loch Leven which is also an important nature reserve; there are also several islands within the loch, the largest of which is St Serf's Inch (the others are Alice's Bower, Castle Island, Reed Bower, Roy's Folly and Scart Island). A much smaller body of water – the Arnot Reservoir – is located to the east of Loch Leven. On the far northern border a portion of the Glenfarg Reservoir lies within the county.

Subdivisions

Burgh of Kinross

Kinross-shire contained only one burgh, Kinross. The burgh was originally created a burgh of barony in 1540/1 and became a burgh of regality in 1685. In 1864 it became a police burgh with an elected town council. It continued to exist until 1975.

Civil parishes

The county was anciently divided into a number of parishes: Cleish, Orwell (containing the market town of Milnathort), Kinross and Portmoak were entirely in Kinross-shire. The parishes of Arngask, Fossoway, Tulliebole and Forgandenny were partly in Perthshire. From 1845 they were used for local government purposes and governed by parochial boards.

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 created a boundary commission to ensure that all civil parishes lay within a single county. After the boundary changes the county contained five parishes: Fossoway (No. 1 on map), Orwell (2), Kinross (3), Portmoak (4) and Cleish (5).

From 1894 elected parish councils replaced the parochial boards. These in turn were abolished in 1930, and the powers they had exercised passed to the county council. Parishes continue to be used today for statistical purposes, though they no longer have any administrative function.

Settlements

Transport

Kinross-shire is bisected north–south by the M90 motorway, which links Kinross to Perth in the north and Dunfermline in the south. The A911 enables west to east travel across the county.

There are no train stations; previously there was one at Kinross however this is no longer open.

Parliamentary constituency

Historic

From 1426 the county returned one member to the Parliament of Scotland.

United Kingdom parliament

Following the Act of Union, Kinross-shire returned members to the House of Commons in Westminster. Due to its small population, it was never a constituency in its own right: instead it alternated with Clackmannanshire, a member being returned for one county at one parliament and for the other at the next. The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 merged the two counties into a single constituency, Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire.

In 1918, House of Commons seats were redistributed, and Kinross-shire was combined with part of Perthshire to form the constituency of Kinross and Western Perthshire. This constituency continued in existence until 1983.

Coat of arms

The Kinross County Council received a grant of arms from Lord Lyon King of Arms on 18 May 1927. The arms depict Loch Leven Castle. The motto adopted was "for all time": at the time of the grant the county council was campaigning to retain its independence from its larger neighbour Perthshire.^[8]

When Perth and Kinross District Council was granted arms in 1977, the Kinross-shire arms were placed on an inescutcheon, or small shield, in the centre of the new arms.^[9] These arms continue in use by the current Perth and Kinross Council.

Places of interest

Related Research Articles

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west. It was a local government county from 1890 to 1930.

Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.

Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Dundee, and Fife to the east, Clackmannanshire to the south, and Stirling and Argyll and Bute to the west. Perth is the administrative centre.

Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around 13 miles south of Perth and around 20 miles northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.

Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.

Milnathort is a small town in the parish of Orwell in the county of Kinross-shire, Scotland and since 1996, the local council area of Perth and Kinross. The smaller neighbour of nearby Kinross, Milnathort has a population of around 2,000 people. It is situated amidst countryside at the foot of the Ochil Hills, and near the north shore of Loch Leven. From 1977 it became more easily accessible due to the development of the M90 motorway. The name comes from the Gaelic maol coirthe meaning "bare hill of the standing stones".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochil and South Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Kinross and Western Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983, representing, at any one time, a seat for one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997–2005

Perth was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918, 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005. From 1832 to 1918 it was a burgh constituency. From 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005, it was a county constituency. During each of the three periods it elected one Member of Parliament (MP).

Perth was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, however, it was one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which still elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Perthshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1885, representing a seat for one Member of Parliament (MP).

Kinross High School is a state school in Kinross, Scotland.

Portmoak is a parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland. It consists of a group of settlements running north to south: Glenlomond, Wester Balgedie, Easter Balgedie, Kinnesswood, Kilmagadwood and Scotlandwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackmannanshire and Dunblane (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

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Perthshire North is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Perth and Kinross. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Perthshire South and Kinross-shire is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Perth and Kinross. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Kinnesswood, possibly from the Scottish Gaelic: Ceann eas ciad is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and is in the historic county of Kinross-shire. It lies to the east of Loch Leven, on the A911 road, below Bishop Hill in the Lomond Hills. It is approximately 4 miles west of Glenrothes and 4 miles east of Kinross.

Orwell is a parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland. It contains the market town of Milnathort, as well as the hamlet of Middleton. The name comes from the Gaelic iubhar coille meaning "yew wood".

The Railways of Kinross were a local network of three rural railways which made the town of Kinross in Scotland their objective in the 1850s.

References

1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kinross-shire" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 824.
↑ Text of the 1685 Act from The Annals of Kinross-shire by Dr. Ebenezer Henderson (Fossoway and District Community Council
↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "County Buildings, 21, 23, 25 High Street, Kinross (LB36288)" . Retrieved 18 July 2021.
↑ "No. 19096". The Edinburgh Gazette . 12 May 1972. p. 422.
↑ "Statistics". Perth and Kinross Council.
↑ glenfeargach/watson. "Kinross-shire Partnership – Home page". kinross.cc.
↑ R.M. Urquhart, Scottish Burgh and County Heraldry, London, 1973
↑ R.M. Urquhart, Scottish Civic Heraldry, London, 1979

External links

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[pkc.gov.uk-1] 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kinross-shire" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 824.

[3] Text of the 1685 Act from The Annals of Kinross-shire by Dr. Ebenezer Henderson (Fossoway and District Community Council

[4] Historic Environment Scotland. "County Buildings, 21, 23, 25 High Street, Kinross (LB36288)" . Retrieved 18 July 2021.

[5] "No. 19096". The Edinburgh Gazette . 12 May 1972. p. 422.

[6] "Statistics". Perth and Kinross Council.

[7] rgach/watson. "Kinross-shire Partnership – Home page". kinross.cc.

[8] R.M. Urquhart, Scottish Burgh and County Heraldry, London, 1973

[9] R.M. Urquhart, Scottish Civic Heraldry, London, 1979

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